Tucidide e la psicologia di massa: alcune considerazioni

The matter of the psychology in Thucydides has tormented the scholars. The purpose of the following paper is to consider the use of psychology in Thucydides. A series of psychological generalization found in the History shows that Thucydides’ interest was not involved in psychology and in behaviour, but in the rules of human behaviour. In front of unexpected events, the mass is not able to conserve a straight mind: swing of mood are one of its characteristics. In his History Thucydides ascribes a precise and determinate semantics to each one of the words that express psychological information. Here, in addition, one discovers a wealth of vocabulary expressing the notion of fear itself in all its nuances. This is not surprising, for fear is perhaps the predominant emotion in History. In spite of what the Historian assert in I 21, the border between Rhetoric and Historiography is not clear-cut. Word and Concept in Thucydides are strictly connected.